On the Mysteries of the Egyptians

...in a life free from passion while it undergoes the action and life of the gods. How then do our supplications Humble prayers or petitions. affect the gods with passions, when they actually make even souls (which were previously subject to passions) free from those very passions? Supplications make the mind fit for the influence of the gods, which arrives easily of its own accord because of the divine friendship that connects all things.

Concerning the anger of the gods.

W hen we turn away from the beneficent care of the gods, as if turning away from the light of the sun, we are immediately in darkness, and God is said to be "angry" with us. Therefore, to "appease" the anger of the gods is simply to return to them by praying. Appeasement of this kind does not bring any passion A change in state or emotion; here, the idea that God "feels" anger. to God; rather, it frees our own soul from its former passions. The Gods and the divine spirits original: "daemones." In this context, these are intermediate beings between gods and humans, not evil entities., when humbly adored and worshiped, repel many evils that would otherwise occur naturally.

Concerning the necessity and liberty of the gods.

I t is necessary for the gods to be as they are, not because of a necessity imposed from the outside, but by a nature that is their own and is the best for them. Their nature is therefore entirely voluntary, such that they would never wish to be otherwise even if a choice were offered. Porphyry A philosopher and critic of certain religious practices. and many other philosophers say that the gods are indeed pure intellects pure intellectsIn Neoplatonism, these are divine minds that exist purely as thought, without physical bodies., while spirits are either intellects or certain animated "participations" of intellect. But Iamblichus The presumed author of this text, defending the mystical traditions. objects that this does not correctly define the nature of spirits. For souls are also animated intellects and participations of intellect, yet they are not spirits. Nor is the nature of the gods correctly established by this definition, for the gods actually preside over the pure intellects.

Concerning the difference between the gods and the spirits according to the Greeks and the most devout.

T he Gods are rightly defined not according to the logic of the intellect itself, but by the principles of unity, goodness, and the intelligible object The ultimate reality that can be understood by the mind but not the senses.. Porphyry suspects that pure and separate intellects have no relationship to sensible things The physical world perceived by the senses., and therefore do not hear prayers. He suggests that the primary worship should still be offered to these separate substances. In this worship, the highest part of the soul is awakened and joined to the highest things; these supreme beings comprehend and know all our affairs within their own "One." They encompass the actions of religious prayers within themselves. They do not depart from their own nature, but remaining fixed in themselves, they are fully present to the intention of those who pray. Indeed, it is fitting to pray most humbly. For acknowledging our own lowliness when compared to the higher beings causes us to pray most earnestly, turning us toward them entirely so that through constant habit we may become like them. Especial—